Most people were excited to hear that Braves’s Merida would be formally crowned a Disney Princess. And rightfully so! She’s a strong role model for young girls out there. The idea that a girl needs a Prince or the help of a kindly fairy to help her out are definitely outdated ideas. I personally thought Merida was perfect just the way she was. But apparently someone with decision making abilities at Disney didn’t feel that way. Do you think Merida is too fat?

As the image suggests, the Merida on the left is as we know her from the film. The Merida on the right will be her official Princess look. At first glance, they look about the same and look different at the same time. The new Merida how obviously more vibrant, fuller hair. This is a beauty thing in my opinion. The dress is also noticeably brighter and more formal. This doesn’t bother me quite as much. A Disney princess should be dressed formally.

One can’t help but notice though that they’ve also lowered the neck line quite a bit. But the main thing I noticed was the waist. Now, it’s not like the original Merida is anything like a full figured girl. But for some reason they have decided to give the new Merida what appears to be much smaller waist. Right? Why is that necessary?

Who thinks Merida is too fat?

I don’t! And now that I think of it, I think it’s time for some more realistic Princesses. I’m not looking for a complete overhaul. I think Snow White and Belle are the business! And I also think that Merida is definitely a step in the right direction. But we could use more. Perhaps a more contemporary story and princess is where to begin. What do you guys think? Am I making something out of nothing? Are you happy with the new Merida?

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David has long been a fan of all things Disney, including the parks, the films, and television shows. This appreciation evolved most recently to this website where he’s happy to provide photos, video, and articles on Disney and its affiliates. David has logged more than 120 visits to Disneyland over the last 3 years, and more than 1,000 hours of park time.

The wasteline shouldn’t have been made so thin and the neckline so low. Other than that, I like the new look much better! Still don’t think she should have been made an official princess, but I don’t think she’ll be a really popular one.

My eleven year old and I both think the new Merida is just fine. The more formal dress looks like it should, more formal and something befitting someone who is joining the other Disney princesses. Do really want Merida being embarrassed by the drab old dress while all of the others are wearing beautiful newer ones.

As for the neckline, it is simply contemporary and nothing to write home about. In fact, with the exception of a few of the Mulan princess portraits, is still the most modest of the princess dresses and is more modest than most of the clothes are being targeted at my daugther.

As for the waistline, the proportions (which you said are unrealistic in both versions) are percentage wise basically identical. Don’t believe me, open each image using a photo editor like Gimp. Under Tools, select Measure and take a couple of waist and hip measurements. Then divide the waist measurements by the hip measurements and you will see what I mean. When I did it, the old pictures came out to be .70 and .66 while the new came out to be .68 and .68. Meaning that the average for each version is.68 and that both versions of Merida are .02 percent from having what doctors call the perfect hip to waist ratio.

So did the artist really change the character, or is your perception just confused by the two very, very different Art styles/forms?